UPDATED: After an outcry on Twitter regarding the T-Mobile executive's use of the term "raping" to refer to his corporate rivals, John Legere has issued an apology:
I know I have an Rated R vocabulary, but even I can go too far. Sincere apologies to anyone offended last night
— John Legere (@JohnLegere) June 19, 2014Originally published at 2:45pm:
T-Mobile CEO John Legere doesn't follow the standard model of corporate presentation, with its PR jargon and milquetoast jokes.
Instead, Legere swears like a sailor, offering four-letter rebuttals to many tech companies' trite promises. (For example: "All the disruption in the world doesn’t mean shit without a network to back it up.") He frequently bashes his competitors on Twitter and at press events. At CES this year, Legere crashed — and was subsequently kicked out of — one of his rival network's parties.
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Last night at the T-Mobile's Uncarrier 5.0 event in Seattle, Legere turned up the dial even further by ripping right into AT&T and Verizon.
"These high and mighty duopolists that are raping you for every penny you have, if they could do something for you, they would," he told the audience. "The fuckers hate you."
That only scratches the surface of it. The Verge compiled some of the highs (or lows, depending on your take) of Legere's presentation. Check it out below.